Don't look now, but the California legislature's assault on public golf that appeared dead earlier this year is gathering momentum.
The state assembly Local Government Committee voted 5-2 (with one abstention) on April 27 in favor of Assembly Bill 1910, which would provide funding to help convert publicly owned golf courses to a mix of high-density housing and open space. There are a few steps remaining before the bill would become law. The proposed legislation now moves on to the Appropriations Committee for a vote. If approved, the measure would next have to pass the full assembly before it could be sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom to be signed into law.
The push to repurpose public golf courses in housing-starved California appeared over in January.
Known as the Public Golf Endangerment Act, Assembly Bill 1910 was first introduced in 2021 as AB 672 by assembly member Cristina Garcia of Bell Gardens in Los Angeles County. It appeared dead in January after it passed through two California Assembly committee hearings on Jan. 12, but failed Jan. 20 to get the necessary support in the Appropriations Committee.
It was brought up again to the Housing and Community Development committee on March 23, where it passed by a 6-2 vote. An early April vote by the Local Government Committee was postponed by the bill's author when it did not have the support necessary to get through the committee.
The bill proposes providing public relief in the way of developer subsidies and grants to local agencies to redevelop California's municipal golf courses into low-incoming housing and green space. To be eligible for public assistance in converting a golf course, a project must meet several criteria under AB 1910 in its current form. At least 25 percent of all new dwelling units must be affordable to, and occupied by, lower-income households; at least 15 percent of the development must be publicly accessible open space (a golf course is not considered public space under AB 1910); no more than one-third of the square footage of the development, excluding the portion reserved for open space, is dedicated to nonresidential uses, such as parking.
Known as the Public Golf Endangerment Act, Assembly Bill 1910 was first introduced in 2021 as AB 672. It appeared dead in January after it passed through two California Assembly committee hearings, but failed to get the necessary support in the Appropriations Committee.
Through every stage, AB 1910 is the subject of constant tweaks and rewrites, and it might be fine-tuned yet again before its next vote. Other criteria, which are not so clear cut, include: the subject golf property must be deemed underutilized; must be in a community that rises to a certain level of population density; and must be in a community deemed park poor. Three terms that have not yet been fully defined, nor has it been determined who will define them are underutilized, population density and park poor.
The Southern California Golf Association released a statement addressing the issue shortly after the vote.
"What do 'underutilized,' 'population density,' and 'park poor' mean in concrete terms? What are the metrics of each? How are they to be objectively measured?”
"Who or what will serve as the final arbiter of whether real meat can be put on the bones of these three vague admonitions? That's not entirely clear. Will golf be invited to provide input on how real meat can be put on those slender bones?
"Lots of questions. No real answers yet."
Garcia introduced the bill last year eyeing the repurposing of some public golf courses as a way to solve a housing shortage crisis in California. Simply put, lawmakers say, there is not enough affordable housing for many of California's 39 million residents, and converting golf courses into a mix of affordable housing while retaining some of the property as greenspace, could help solve that.
The Southern California Golf Association and the USGA both have actively opposed the bill and lobbied the public about the merits of municipal golf in the country's most populous state.
There are 921 golf courses located throughout California, about 200 of which are publicly owned. Although municipal golf comprises only about 22 percent of California's golf supply, it hosts about 45 percent of all play statewide, according to the Southern California Golf Association.
No date has yet been set for a vote by the Appropriations Committee.